After the second period lacked any real offensive contingency from Boston or Tampa Bay, the Bruins settled into the Lightning's zone quite comfortably early in the third period, making Dwayne Roloson sweat and exposing the Bolts' lack of backcheck.
Their work culminated when Andrew Ference blasted a shot from the point that deflected off Tyler Seguin's stick and the puck squeezed through Dwayne Roloson's pads, slowly squirming its way into the Tampa net to give the Bruins a 2-0 lead at 8:12 of the third period.
Tim Thomas continued his stellar play and the defense in front of him kept Tampa frustrated in the neutral zone, despite a two-minute stretch in which the Bruins iced the puck three times.
All night long, the Bruins had kept Tampa's crowd quiet, and anytime Tampa was able to get behind the defense, Thomas found a way to stop them. The Bruins' netminder didn't have to make many of his trademark reactionary saves on the night, as the defense cleared the lanes and Thomas had no problem seeing the puck. His counterpart, on the other hand, seemed to struggle when his team needed him to be at his best.
With Boston's attack bearing down on Tampa's defense, Roloson was unable to track the puck, flustered by the Bruins' high shots and had difficulty moving across his crease as the Black and Gold found passing lanes in the middle of Tampa's defense all night.
The Lightning's best-in-the-NHL power play was held silent on three chances, as were their 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 units.
Thomas stopped 31 shots to record his second career playoff shutout, and Boston took back home ice advantage with a very convincing, very typical team victory. With the win, the Bruins improved to 5-1 on the road in the playoffs.